Destiny 2’s Dungeon Controversy
Destiny fans on Twitter and Reddit express frustration and confusion following an announcement on Reddit about upcoming content tied to the Witch Queen Expansion.
During the Destiny 2 Showcase earlier this year, Bungie stated that two dungeons will be released during Year 5. While it was stated on the pre-order page that these dungeons would not be the standard edition of the game, many fans believed that these dungeons would be tied to seasons. Community Manager Cozmo clarified the situation in a Reddit post this week.
The two dungeons that will be released next year require specific editions of the game to be purchased in order to get access or to be bought separately later on for a higher total cost. A breakdown of these bundles are:
- Witch Queen Standard Edition ($40) — Witch Queen Expansion.
- Witch Queen Deluxe Edition ($80) — Expansion, Season Pass (4 Seasons), 2 dungeons.
- Witch Queen 30th Anniversary Bundle ($100) — Expansion, Season Pass (4 Seasons), 2 dungeons, and the 30th Anniversary gear and Dungeon (launches December 4th, can be purchased standalone for $25).
The two main issues here are the new cost of the dungeons and the ever-evolving labyrinth that Destiny is becoming.
Up until this point, Destiny has never charged separately for a Dungeon. I’m going to assume that the pricepoint for each dungeon individually will land somewhere around $10–$15, though this is not guaranteed. With the expansion being $40 and the season pass being $40, it feels like these dungeons should be…free? If players do not buy the deluxe editions now, they will end up having to pay more in the future overall.
The other issue is the fact that there are so many separate pieces of Destiny that already cost money. Parts of the game are free-to-play. Other parts are paid expansions. Some parts of those expansions eventually become free-to-play. Seasons are $10 each with connecting narratives across other seasons. To top this off, content vaulting has been implemented removing entire portions of the game.
Destiny feels like it’s trying to mimic a subscription-based game. Pay $100 at the start and commit to the game's content for that year, or try to play season by season and end up paying more. This just adds another layer of confusion for new players when they hop into the game and frustration for veteran players who have already spent hundreds on the franchise.
Ultimately I think that the controversy here is more towards the confusion of why dungeons are now considered a standalone entity, but the new price tag tacked onto them definitely hurts. It is understandable why players are feeling frustrated when Bungie continues to fracture the game's content into different pieces. If raids in the past have been vaulted, what's to stop Bungie from pulling these separate dungeons from the game at a later point? Alternately, what now prevents Bungie from selling a raid as a separate piece of content?
It is unlikely that Bungie will change their position on this issue, but this truly feels like a one-step forward two steps back type of ordeal.
